Am I interested in buying one? No.
Am I glad it's a thing Ford seriously wants to make? Absolutely.
Photography Credit: J.A. Ackley
The GT3-spec Mustang has yet to compete at Le Mans, but Ford already has a street-legal version in mind. Meet the 2025 Mustang GTD.
“Mustang GTD shatters every preconceived notion of a supercar,” said Jim Farley, Ford president and CEO. “This is a new approach for us. We didn’t engineer a road car for the track, we created a race car for the road. Mustang GTD takes racing technology from our Mustang GT3 race car, wraps it in a carbon fiber Mustang body and unleashes it for the street.”
Designed in collaboration with Multimatic (the same company that developed the GT3 and GT4 Mustangs, as well as the Ford GT) the GTD gets a supercharged, 5.2-liter V8 rated at an estimated 800 horsepower that’s paired with a rear-mounted, 8-speed dual-clutch transmission–with carbon-fiber driveshaft to boot.
Photograph Courtesy Ford
In addition to ceramic brakes, the Mustang also receives short-long arm front and multi-link rear suspension with an “advanced dual ride height system”:
The Mustang GTD's exceptional performance is further enhanced by a state-of-the-art semi-active suspension that can vary both spring rates and ride height. The adaptive spool valve damper technology with hydraulically actuated dual spring rate and height suspension provides two unique states which enhance on-road and on-track performance independently. The suspension settings allows for nearly 40 mm lower ride height in Track Mode and overall has a nearly four inches wider track than the Mustang GT.
Photograph Courtesy Ford
In an effort to keep the GTD as light as possible, the hood, fenders, trunk lid cover, door sills, front splitter, rear diffuser, roof and, if you so choose, the front and rear fascias are all replaced with carbon fiber.
Photograph Courtesy Ford
A front splitter, underbody tray (made of carbon fiber, of course) and vented hood work to improve aerodynamics, though for those in search of all the downforce, there’s also available hydraulically controlled front flaps and active rear wing–technology Ford is all too willing to remind you is "illegal in racing."
Photography Credit: J.A. Ackley
Inside the cockpit, you’ll be greeted by Recaro seats that are “optimized for track days,” a digital display and a lack of rear seats.
Ford further explains that the GTD will offer a number of different color combos for both the interior and exterior, with the option of ordering the car “in any color, even color-matched to a customer-provided sample.
Photograph Courtesy Ford
By now we’re sure you’re eager to know what sort of trunk space you’ll get, and your answer is pretty much none:
Where there once was a trunk is now the semi-active suspension, a hydraulic control system, and a transaxle cooling system that uses a race-inspired cover that replaces the trunk lid and includes two air scoops to funnel air off the back glass into the area and through the heat exchangers.
Photograph Courtesy Ford
Just in case you thought the GTD couldn’t be even more over the top, the Mustang can be optioned with 3D-printed titanium paddle shifters, rotary dial shifter and serial plate all made from “retired Lockheed Martin F-22 titanium parts.” Yeah, seriously.
Photograph Courtesy Ford
How much will a GTD set you back? Are you sitting down? Good. Ford expects pricing to begin at roughly $300,000. (For reference, the Porsche 911 GT3 has a starting price of $182,900.)
Ford is remaining tight-lipped on how many GTDs it plans to make, though does say we can expect the limited production of examples to become available in late 2024/early 2025.
Am I interested in buying one? No.
Am I glad it's a thing Ford seriously wants to make? Absolutely.
It's a pretty rad car. Kudos to Ford for just throwing this thing out there. I expected a DCT, I did not expect the rear-mounted transaxle or the rocker arm-actuated rear suspension or the 800hp part.
Cars and Coffee 2026 is going to be intense
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
Yeah, it's cool. But it's pretty much Ford's version of a C7 ZR1.. It's been done before, well maybe not the shifter paddles made from used F22 parts.
EDIT: Just did a quick check and low mile C7 ZR1's are selling for 250k+ Thats insane to me...
Cool. But the name is confusing? GTD is the pro am IMSA class running GT3 spec cars.
And those racecars are pretty tame compared to this thing.
I may not be the target market, but I'm so glad stuff like this exists.
I see an increase in the number and intensity of YouTube videos featuring Mustangs leaving car shows.
BlueInGreen - Jon said:Cool. But the name is confusing? GTD is the pro am IMSA class running GT3 spec cars.
And those racecars are pretty tame compared to this thing.
The name baffled me. It's supposed to be the street-going version of the GT3 race car, so why not call it, GT3S?
NickD said:BlueInGreen - Jon said:Cool. But the name is confusing? GTD is the pro am IMSA class running GT3 spec cars.
And those racecars are pretty tame compared to this thing.
The name baffled me. It's supposed to be the street-going version of the GT3 race car, so why not call it, GT3S?
I'm glad I'm not the only one. I saw the headlines last night and I assumed they were launching their racecar for the GTD Class. Seems like a weird choice to name a street car after a racing class only IMSA nerds know the name of when said street car doesn't even seem to share that much with the racing class. Then again, it's less weird than naming an SUV the MACH-E instead of saving that name for the first all-electic or hybrid version of the traditional Mustang.
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